Enormous Powerball Jackpot: Fantasy Or Curse?

It seems to make the rounds in the news cycle every couple of months.

The two big national lotteries, the Mega Millions and the Powerball, are mostly ignored until the numbers get really big, and then all the news outlets start publicizing the idea that someone is going to get very rich.

It's fun to fantasize about -- what would half-a-billion dollars even look like? Would I take that trip, buy that car or quit my job?

Last year a lottery was even proposed by legislators in the state of Utah, but that was quickly defeated.

However, it's been said that getting that much money all at once can actually ruin a person's life.

I asked my friend Curtis about that thought and his answer was this: "Well, then it landed with the wrong person, didn't it?"

Earlier this week, this came across the wire:

"Somebody won the billion-dollar Powerball jackpot. Lottery officials say a single ticket in Oregon matched all six numbers in Saturday's drawing, and is worth an estimated one-point-three-billion dollars. Powerball says it's the fourth-largest jackpot in the history of the game. The winner has the option of getting the full amount, before taxes, spread out over 30 years, or getting a lump sum payment of about 620-million dollars."

It's cliché to say it (and impossible because I don't play), but I really don't think my life would change much if I won that much money in the lottery.

I love my wife, my job and my truck. What else does a man need?

Maybe a monkey?

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